Conventional saddle-stitch book binding systems have different configurations depending on the type of printing method (offset printing, cut paper digital printing and roll paper digital printing, etc.) applied to printed matter to be bound. More specifically, in the offset printing, the saddle-stitch book binding system is basically in the form of a combination of a collator and a saddle stitching device, or a combination of a folding device and a saddle stitching device, and as required, a cover supplying device and/or an accumulating device are(is) incorporated into the system (for example, Patent Document 1).
In the cut paper digital printing, the saddle-stitch book binding system is basically in the form of a combination of a cut paper supplying device and a saddle stitching device, or a combination of a folding device and a saddle stitching device, and as required, a cover supplying device and/or an accumulating device are(is) incorporated into the system (for example, Patent Document 2). In the roll paper digital printing, the saddle-stitch book binding system is basically in the form of a combination of a cutter and a saddle stitching device, and as required, a cover supplying device and/or an accumulating device are(is) incorporated into the system (for example, Patent Document 3).
In order to be able to handle all of different kinds of printed material which differ from one another in the printing method, it is necessary to provide a dedicated saddle-stitch book binding system for each printing method, which leads to a problem such as high cost and occupation of a large space.